One of the upcoming indie games I am currently keeping track of is Cuphead. I became interested in that game because of its great cartoony art direction that is styled after the animations that were around in the 1930s, like “Popeye” and “Betty Boop.” I am intrigued to see how the gameplay of a shoot ‘em up and a fighting game will mix, so I hope the game turns out to be a success. After delving into Cuphead, I decided to go on Kickstarter to check out if there were any other games that had a similar art style. That was when I discovered this game, Luna’s Tale: Curse of the Forgotten Doll. Now then, why don’t you read on about what I found out concerning Luna’s Tale: Curse of the Forgotten Doll?

The story revolves around a teenage girl named Luna, who is bringing her boyfriend, Elathan, over to her place for the first time. Unfortunately, another friend of Luna’s has something planned for when the two arrive. This friend is named Proserpina, a doll that Luna has had since childhood. Proserpina is filled with hate and jealousy over the fact that Luna has forgotten about her as time has moved on and Luna has gotten older. Once Luna and Elathan get to her place, Proserpina kidnaps him, and it is up to Luna to traverse through a childhood-inspired platforming world to save him! The story sounds simple, but I think what has been shown of the game’s world so far is where it will affect the player the most, in terms of bringing you back to that childhood nostalgia that we sometimes think about.

Luna is a hand-drawn-2D platformer. You will run, jump, and fight enemies and bosses throughout five different worlds. The gameplay shows that you can do the traditional “jump onto an enemy’s head and kill them” move, but will also have a rope swing, kickball, and fireball ability. This means that Luna will have some different forms of attacks so she isn’t too helpless when she fights off Proserpina’s minions. The developer has commented that they have been inspired by the greats, like Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island and Donkey Kong Country. It doesn’t hurt that the team making this game have experience from being at Retro Studios and Edge of Reality, two game developers here in my home town of Austin, Texas.

The hand-drawn presentation is one of the most charming aspects that this game offers. I love it when developers think outside the box to give the game an interesting look. It reminds me of games like Dust: An Elysian Tail, Odin Sphere, and like I mentioned, Cuphead. The game definitely shares some of the atmosphere from games like Puppeteer, where you know, it’s a childlike world, but it’s more like a twisted/dark version of a childhood wonderland. I mean, who doesn’t think those monkeys with cymbals are scary? The music also sounds so whimsical. They have a couple of samples of the game’s music up on their website, and I think you should listen to a few of them. You can tell they got a lot of inspiration from the likes of David Wise and Grant Kirkhope, two amazing video game composers.

I have my concerns about this Kickstarter, since as of right now, it isn’t even close to getting to its goal. They changed their pitch video, but I don’t know if it’s enough to show off why you should fund this project. It got me to donate enough for an early bird copy of the game, and it is coming to a majority of the consoles out right now including PlayStation 3, Wii U, PlayStation 4, PC, Ouya, and Xbox One. I know the trailer was a little rough around the edges, but it’s pre-alpha footage, so what were you expecting? I personally think this is one of the most charming games on Kickstarter, and it has some major talent behind it. What do you all think¬—looks like something you would love to invest in and play? I would personally do it since I would rather not have the vengeance of a childhood doll come after me.